Introduction

A bit of a souped up french bread, fortified with whole wheat flour, Quinoa, and flaxseed. Takes a bit of time, but well worth the effort. I keep a batch of starter on hand at all times. The Prep time is inclusive of the rising time.
A bit of a souped up french bread, fortified with whole wheat flour, Quinoa, and flaxseed. Takes a bit of time, but well worth the effort. I keep a batch of starter on hand at all times. The Prep time is inclusive of the rising time.

Directions

Make the sponge by dissolving and letting foam, 1/2 tsp of dry yeast in the 110 F water, (about 6 mins). Mix in the 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, and mix with a fork until the gluten starts to strand in long strings (about 3 minutes). Set aside for up to 24 hours without refrigeration. It should be light, bubbly and yeasty smelling within 3 hours

When the sponge is ripe, scrape it into a large bowl, add 2.5 cups of warm water and another 1/2 tsp of yeast, whisk well . add thewhole wheat flour, the flaxseed and the Quinoa at this time and stir in well, then add the minced garlic and the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time blending well, until the dough is to dense to stir. at this point, I usually have about 1/2 cup or a bit more left to add and I do it with my hand in the bowl. When the dough is no longer sticky, turn on to a lightly floured surface and kneed for about 12 mins, adding flour only as necessary to ease the stickiness. Flatten the dough out and sprinkle with the salt, then fold and kneed for an additional 5 or 6 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Form dough into a round. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest 10 mins.Spray a bowl with cooking spray generously and put the dough in the bowl and turn the round over to coat the exposed surface with oil, cover with a damp cloth and let rise about 2 hours (should double).Sprinkle the cornmeal on a cookie sheet.Deflate dough and divide into two parts for loaves or into 25 rounds for buns. cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 30 mins.Shape the loaves into baggetts, place on cornmeal on the cookie sheet, cover and let rise til doubled (2 hours) or into ovals for sandwich buns (cover still).

preheat oven to 375. When bread has doubled in bulk, with a very sharp knive make diagonal slashes across the top of the loaves or a single slash down the middle for the bun, and immediately place in the over to bake